Saturday, April 18, 2009

Food tastes better when it's 15% off

On tax day, PF Chang's ran a special promotion where ever patron received 15% off of their bill. Such a deal! After working from home and feeling a bit stir crazy, I talked my boyfriend into going with me. As I expected, the restaurant was packed. People can small a deal a mile away, I think. We're not all that picky about where we sit (there, at least), so we were able to grab one of the open bar tables - with no wait! Our server came over to us almost immediately and brought us some of the special PF Chang's sauce took our drink orders.

My boyfriend had a ginger ale - exciting, I know - but I had one of my favorite martinis - the jade martini.

I really, really like the jade martini. It's nice and melon-y. And it's served with a real frozen alcohol-y melon ball floating around inside the glass. (It's sounds strange but it's actually very tasty.)

Before I talk about our meal, let me give kudos to PF Chang's. I generally prefer dining at local restaurants, but I feel comfortable giving my money to PF Chang's because they are very transparent about nutritional information. It's easy to locate on their site and calories, serving sizes, and fat content are clearly shown for every item on the menu. Other chains should take a lesson. I also really, really, really, appreciate the fact that vegetarian items get their own special notation on the menu. This makes it so much easier to order and enjoy a meal. I like not having to ask 50 questions about possible meaty ingredients that could be thrown into a dish.

We started off our meal with some 170 calorie (each) spring rolls. Interestingly enough, this app has gone up in calories since the last time I looked at the nutritional info. Maybe that's why it tasted greasier than I remembered from my last visit? But I was so hungry, I didn't care. I gobbled it down anyway. When my nearly 700 calorie Ma Po Tofu arrived - silken tofu and broccoli in a spicy sauce - I was pleasantly surprised to see the portion size. It was huge! That made my decision to ingest that many calories seem almost worthwhile. (The picture below was taken after I'd eaten half of my meal.)


My meal was delicious as always, although a bit spicier than I'd generally care for. I'll have to remember to ask for a toned down version next time. All in all, the marketing ploy that got us out of the house was totally worth it. I would have gladly paid full price for this meal.


No comments:

Post a Comment